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A World Where Creative Artists Are Shōnen Wizards - Planning Thread

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So, the wdango Thread produced a crazy idea. Then we started PMing about it. For a beta...
Mecrazyfang

Mecrazyfang

So, the wdango Thread produced a crazy idea. Then we started PMing about it. For a beta conversation, it stood at seven participants, and threatened to grow.

I figured it was better to leave it as a community project. So, here's the deal. This will be a Quest. I'll be writing it, influenced heavily by the consensus of this thread.

You don't have to be part of the wdango community. Just part of SV. Don't have to want to write it yourself. That'll be my job. All that's required, here, is an opinion. You can pitch ideas, or just shoot down ideas that don't sound fun. Of course, do be polite.

Now, can I get the participants of the Beta Convo to sound off with what we've discussed thus far?
 
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I mentioned my take on the themes present and implied in the setting, though I can't really sum it up on mobile.
 
Copy&Pasting from the wdango thread, the first posts:
Oh I am slain! said:
Hrm, has there yet been an anime of writers/artists fighting each other across the land Shōnen-style, with each person drawing powers from their Muse? The battles would either be hilariously mundane or absurd. And there would be a subplot of some writers/artists becoming so skilled and famous such that they ascend to semi-Muse-hood. The protagonist would obviously be the down-on-his-luck nobody who gradually gains his own creative spark over the course of many episodes. And writer's block would need to be personified into some kind of fightable demon.
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Oh I am slain! said:
That could be one of the running themes. All of the great artists and writers can break through reality with the help of their divine Muses. But the protagonist can't. He writes, but only words appear. He draws, but the canvas only shows lines and colors. No Muse has ever listened to his pleas, despite his many painful rituals and searches for advice.
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Oh I am slain! said:
@Mecrazyfang: Want to start a quest discussion thread for this instead? Important secret details could still be only put in PMs. I think there's enough interest in this, and enough differing opinions, such that many people (including me) would enjoy writing speculative omakes while we continue to discuss both the quest and general world-building.

I volunteer the silly title "Quest Discussion - This World Is But a Canvas/A World Where Creative Artists Are Shōnen Wizards".
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And copy&pasting from the conversation:
Oh I am slain! said:
Hrm, "This World Is But a Canvas"? (From "This world is but a canvas to our imagination." - Henry David Thoreau)

I haven't thought much about your Story idea yet, but yeah, I originally thought of it as all creativity.

After thinking about this for a while, I realized that there are *a lot* of directions we could take this. I actually would recommend that we just pick a direction, explore it with some short stories, then pick a completely different take, explore that, repeat. E.g. one world is only about writers, allowing us to be more detailed and cohesive about the mechanics, while another time we try with all creativity.

Another possible backstory is the "Magic is Dying" trope, where we use a Post-apocalyptic-but-now-thriving world like Naruto's, with remnants of the past. People have been using all these traditional Muses for their powers, but the Muses are starting to fade away. So a main subplot is that the characters eventually discover that the world needs to start making their own Muses, their own legends.
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Divider said:
I mentioned my take on the themes present and implied in the setting, though I can't really sum it up on mobile.
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Well...
Divider said:
It is important to note how a Muse is gained, how it interacts with the user, how it interacts with mundanes(assuming not everyone has a Muse), how they grow in power, and what they look like. Also, we should come up with a few plotlines for the beginning of the quest.
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Divider said:
Mecrazyfang said:
Mecrazyfang said: ↑
Ideas are flowing. This is excellent.

So, Muses are people. Dead. In life, they were very creative, perhaps even successful. But, they died with massive regret. And then someone had a creative thought that 'connects' with that dead person. Draws them back in.

But modern-day media is scared of creativity. It's costly, and actual execution is rare - compounded by cost. So when these Muses appear, ghostly images following people and advising them, companies respond by outright refusing to do anything 'new'.
This theme can be reinforced in-verse, if we're going the shonen route. Have a mechanic present, where imitating other great works provides more reliable results, but attempting something new provides a greater chance of reward. In addition, keep in mind that IRL, many of us take inspiration from other works. Therefore, a valid point for the antagonists is that everyone is an imitator, in some way.
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Divider said:
Pandemonious Ivy said:
Just throwing this out there (my Muse is on fire):

Four Major Muses-
Art, Music, Story, and Building

There are others that get more chances for originality and rarity bonuses (which make their effectiveness increase x-fold), but have overall less power, they are Minor Muses.

Each Artist/Architect/etc can only gain strength from their Muse by tapping into the particular type of manifestation: Artist draws, Storyteller speaks, etc.

Have more vague ideas, but don't want to flood chat.
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This presents an interesting contrast to the theme of originality versus the safety of being generic. Continuing to write can be seen as being stuck firmly in your ways, but delving into a newer art form like game design or film making is risky and more expensive.
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Copypasting ideas.
Mortifer said:
Some idea's I had for it, just reading this:

-Drawing power from a Muse directly is impossible. It has to be chanelled into Story. Story's can be created at will, but die out if left for too long. A Story works off of Narration- As two Writers fight, they each Narrate, projecting their Story's into reality and attempting to have their Story overwhelm the other Writer's.

-Story's all have a 'Genre'. Genre effects what power the Writer gains when Narrating it- For example, the Mystery Genre gives you a vairety of subtle powers, which you lose as your opponent discovers them, and the ability to seal off opponents powers if they know about them.

I have some more, but they're hard to put into words. Something about Deconstruction<Regular Genre, but Reconstruction<Deconstruction.
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Mortifer said:
Gave me an idea for a mechanic, though- If a Writer contradicts themselves and creates a Plot Hole, their opponent can take advantage of that to fix the plot hole or contradiction however they want. Let's say that someone gains an ability that stats that their skin cannot be broken, to defend from several spears through the chest. If they later tries to leave a trail for their allies using their blood, their opponent can claim Plot Hole and remove the Unbreakable Skin thing, which would result in the person changing, so that they were always effected by it.
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I haven't yet decided on any bright lines between "major" and "minor" Muses, but it definitely makes sense that some would be more powerful than others, while some powers would be difficult to compare just because they would be so different.

One silly, unpolished backstory idea for a melancholy campfire scene when the protagonist and his older friend are on the run in the Desert of Migraines:
"There is a Muse of Puns?"

"There are Muses of Puns."

"B-But I've never heard of them!"

"There were Muses of Puns. A century ago. During the start of World War [Redacted], the Punners coordinated a massive nighttime operation to sneak into every major printing press. They replaced the War's name with their own choice. The next morning, it was a massacre. Even the greatest artists suffered headaches for days, and many of the newcomers dropped dead from brain hemorrhaging, their own concepts still in developmental phases and too weak to withstand the onslaught. Healing-inclined Singers and Writers couldn't create medicinal works fast enough, and hundreds of thousands died. All sides immediately agreed to a truce and hunted down every last Punner, wiping out all their traditions, all their grand works, and all their knowledge of communing with the Muses of Puns. And to be certain, the Authors even wrote the Punners out of our world's existence."

"...That's...terrifying. Has this happened to other Muses and their Chosen before?"

"It's hard to know. Whole fields could have been erased out of existence over many centuries. There are some areas, like Epic Poetry, that have waned in power, but their Muses are still around, and that power has become concentrated in a few Poets who can take on entire armies at once."

"Yet how do people still know that the Muses of Puns once existed?"

"The truth is most don't know. I've seen how much you study, yet you didn't know. But do you remember Tolkien's poem? He was a great man; no one knows how, but he was one of the few to gain the patronage of multiple Muses. One of his legendary poems goes thusly:

"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost."​

"I remember that one. It has a certain majesty that I'll never forget. What of it?"

"Do you recall how people commune with their Muses?"

"Muses damn it, of course! You know that. I've been trying to secure a Muse for years. Ritual, sacrifice, toil, relic, inheritance, mentorship...I've tried all of those and more."

"Indeed. Tolkien and my grandfather were once Betas for each other, and often swapped ideas. Several of Tolkien's works were actually metaphorical in nature and parodied historical events. And they knew a secret.

My grandfather was no mere Author, nor was his father before him. Now I am the last, wielding our only relic. I bear the Pun Ring."
 
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Repost

Pandemonious Ivy said:
Just throwing this out there (my Muse is on fire):

Four Major Muses-
Art, Music, Story, and Building

There are others that get more chances for originality and rarity bonuses (which make their effectiveness increase x-fold), but have overall less power, they are Minor Muses.

Each Artist/Architect/etc can only gain strength from their Muse by tapping into the particular type of manifestation: Artist draws, Storyteller speaks, etc.

Have more vague ideas, but don't want to flood chat.
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I think getting a Muse should be either a Muse chooses an artist to share power with, or an artist does a ritual with a chosen implement (spiritual quest into a different dimension?)

Oh, other idea: They're remnants of ideas of the dead that wanted to exist badly enough that they latched on to someone in a symbiotic relationship
 
Pandemonious Ivy said:
I think getting a Muse should be either a Muse chooses an artist to share power with, or an artist does a ritual with a chosen implement (spiritual quest into a different dimension?)

Oh, other idea: They're remnants of ideas of the dead that wanted to exist badly enough that they latched on to someone in a symbiotic relationship
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Ooh, I like all of those; any one of them, or combinations of them, could work. An example of the first, say...in a magical school setting: Students work on creative projects, Muses metaphorically swoop around from student to student, giving some inspiration here, adding a thought there. If a student amuses a particular Muse enough (heh, amuses), that Muse starts to stick around more and more, until they make a pact.
 
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And the protagonist is someone trying hard to get a personal Muse of his own.

Also, I'm thinking the initial Artisans (I'm using this as a catchall term) used their power to isolate themselves from the world somehow. Creating tropes that the world follows, so normal humans aren't exposed? (if this is modern day)

Maybe just a powerful geass that prevents normals from even noticing supernatural events. Which is why unsubtle Story Artisans are deemed insane, with them rambling out loud randomly.

Can have other creatures born from imagination and dreams that may or may not play nice.

Like a particular fey woman that can draw in Muses and use their ideas for herself...
 
Pandemonious Ivy said:
And the protagonist is someone trying hard to get a personal Muse of his own.

Also, I'm thinking the initial Artisans (I'm using this as a catchall term) used their power to isolate themselves from the world somehow. Creating tropes that the world follows, so normal humans aren't exposed? (if this is modern day)

Maybe just a powerful geass that prevents normals from even noticing supernatural events. Which is why unsubtle Story Artisans are deemed insane, with them rambling out loud randomly.

Can have other creatures born from imagination and dreams that may or may not play nice.
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Ooh, so this would be the Modern AU, hidden-magical-world approach?

Pandemonious Ivy said:
Like a particular fey woman that can draw in Muses and use their ideas for herself...
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J. K. Rowlings? :D
 
Eh... I'd prefer a setting where all the mystical stuff was common knowledge, actually.
 
World of Magic?

I can dig it. Would be a unique twist, for sure. I enjoy the thought that like that, nobody is really "special". Yeah, let's go with that
 
Another idea: other ideas/figments of imagination follow a "more that exist, stronger they are" type deal.

So right now, most myths would have some corresponding creature somewhere, but there would be things like zombies (powerful), saytr (weak), dragons (stronger in some areas than others).

The major Artisans deal with issues by making a powerful collaborative reality warping creation to "retcon the story". I.e. Too many zombie outbreaks? Rewrite reality so the virus is cured by exposure to the sun.

Edit: I'm thinking the Muses start off immaterial, only able to affect people through vague whispering of ideas. If a Muse manages to find a person more receptive to their Nature/Domain/Whatever, then the bond begins and a possibility for a pact opens up.

After bonding, you can tell who has the most powerful Muse by how much they can affect the world/their physical form. By "feeding" your Muse- doing work corresponding to their Domain, or following their ideas directly- they grow in strength and influence. The moderately powerful have "second shadows" while the most powerful always walk with a partner.

(I figure the form of the Muse when mature would reflect the Domain and the Muse's partner. Can't decide if they all have uniformly humanoid forms or if varies wildly, hmm)

(Mildly related, I would definitely have a well fed Conception Muse. Always full of and providing ideas for any given thing, but never personally getting far beyond the conceptual stage. *glares at her*)
 
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I wanna help! :V

So, muses are Stands...? Manifesting them for writer to writer combat?
*curses fact that I have a tablet instead of a laptop*
 
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o3o said:
So, muses are Stands...? Manifesting them for writer to writer combat?
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Stands? Hrm, didn't know that fandom before, but seems similar going by the JoJo Wiki. Like some of the earlier stuff, this could be taken in several different directions. Each Muse could support the powers of many Artisans, so except in rare cases, the Muses aren't literally present. Or each Artisan has a personal Muse who follows them around.
 
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